Prep Baseball Report

Trackman by the Numbers: McCade Brown, RHP, 2021


David Seifert
Director of College Scouting

 

MCCADE BROWN, RHP, INDIANA

TRACKMAN DATA

FASTBALL DATA 
Peak FB Velo  95.8
Avg FB Velo 
94.0
Peak Spin Rate 
2467
Avg Spin Rate
2396
Avg Induced Vertical Break
18.3"
Avg Horizontal Break
14.0"
Avg Extension 
6'3"
Tilt 
1:15
Release 
Height: 5'6" Side: 2'1"

CURVE DATA
Avg CB Velo  81.0
Peak CB Spin Rate 3038
Avg Spin Rate 2913
Avg Induced Vertical Break -5.7"
Avg Horizontal Break -16.0"
Extension  5'11"
Tilt  8:15
Release  Height: 5'5" Side: 2'0"

SLIDER DATA
Avg SL Velo  83.6
Avg Spin Rate 2834
Avg Induced Vertical Break -0.1"
Avg Horizontal Break -6.9"
Extension  5'8"
Tilt  9:00
Release  Height: 5'4" Side: 2'1"

CHANGE DATA
Avg CH Velo  86.6
Avg Spin Rate 2289
Avg Induced Vertical Break 7.8"
Avg Horizontal Break 18.7"
Extension  6'5"
Tilt  2:15
Release  Height: 5'1" Side: 2'4"


STRENGTHS:
 Similar to our look last fall, Brown throws with very low effort, playing catch from 60'6" with a three-quarter arm slot. He is tall and athletic at 6-foot-6, 200 pounds. His delivery and arm action are clean. There are no mechanical red flags. He gets slightly above average extension at 6'3". His fastball, curve and slider are all released from a nearly identical slot and all have the potential to play as plus pitches in the future. In particular, his fastball release point was especially consistent with very little variance among the 14 fastballs he threw in the 28 pitch session. This is something not typically seen in 20 year old pitchers, at least in my 30+ years of collective experience between college player, coach and professional scout. Additionally, the spin rate on his FB ranks in the 80th percentile of MLB pitchers while his IVB of 18.3" has extreme ride (93rd MLB percentile). To top it off, his heater also has extreme run with a 14.0" of HVB. This too, ranks in the 93rd percentile of MLB.

Saving the best for last, his CB is an even bigger separator, especially when paired with the life of his fastball. His bender has an elite MLB-level spin rate, showing an average of 2913 and a high of 3038. For comparison, Sonny Gray had the highest average spin rate (2988) on his curveball last season among pitchers who threw it over 550 times. The next two highest right-handers; Charlie Morton (2886) and Justin Verlander (2821).

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: His change-of-pace is a work-in-progress pitch. He drops his hand down and away from his normal release point, showing 5" less in release height and 3" further away than the slot for his FB. I'd also like to see his slider at a little higher velocity in effort to differentiate more from his CB.

SUMMARY: Brown continues to build his resume. He has the size, athleticism, stuff and data points to impact the draft in the early rounds of 2021. Missing a spring season stunted his development, as it did all others, but he can make up for much of that with a productive summer. Although he was in the strike zone (see below) during this indoor bullpen session, his strike-throwing abilities need to transfer to game action as he's walked 13 in 6.2 IP so far during his brief Hoosier career.

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